Here is a very timely article, considering the world events at play right now, from Beautiful Christian Life……………………
16 Bible Passages about Why God Allows Evil and Suffering in the World
Do Miracles Still Happen? 7 Questions and Answers on Miracles
This article is gleaned from the recent book by Bible scholar Dr. Craig Keener, Miracles Today. Some fascinating reading. From In Christ…………………
We Need to Practice Christlikeness ALL the Time — Dallas Willard
We Need to Practice Christlikeness All the Time
Asking ourselves “What would Jesus do?” when suddenly in the face of an important situation simply is not an adequate discipline or preparation to enable one to live as He lived. It in no doubt will do some good and is certainly better than nothing at all, but that act alone is not sufficient to see us boldly and confidently through a crisis, and we could easily find ourselves driven to despair over the powerless tension it will put us through.
The secret of the easy yoke, then, is to learn from Christ how to live our total lives, how to invest all our time and our energies of mind and body as He did. We must learn how to follow His preparations, the disciplines for life in God’s rule that enabled Him to receive his Father’s constant and effective support while doing His will. We have to discover how to enter into His disciplines from where we stand today – and no doubt, how to extend and amplify them to suit our needy cases.
From The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Copyright © 1988 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Common Christian Myths About Happiness
We’ve probably all heard the statement, “God is more concerned with you being holy than being happy.” Well, why can’t we be holy AND happy? Here is what Randy Alcorn has to say on the subject. From Eternal Perspectives Ministries…………………..
https://www.epm.org/blog/2021/Feb/8/common-christian-myths-happiness
PRUNED TO BEAR FRUIT
This article does a commendable job of reminding us that, as the Master of His vineyard, God often has to prune us to bring about the greatest growth. From Lovesick Scribe………………….
Spiritual Growth — Dallas Willard
Spiritual Growth
While the initiative in the revival and reformation of the soul originally comes from what lies beyond us, we are never merely passive at any point in the process. This is clear from the biblical imperatives to repent and to believe, and—for the person with new life already in them—to put off the old person and put on the new, to work out the salvation that is given to us, etc., etc. It is certainly true, as Jesus said to his friends, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). But it is equally true for them that “If you do nothing, it will be without me.” In the process of spiritual reformation under grace, passivity does not exclude activity and activity does not exclude passivity.
Hence, the invasion of the personality by life from above does not by itself form the personality in the likeness of Christ. It does not of itself restore the soul into the wholeness intended for it in its creation. It does not alone bring one to the point where “the things I would, that I do, and the things I would not, I do not,” where “sin will have no dominion over you” (Romans 6:14). Rather, I must learn and accept the responsibility of moving with God in transformation of my own personality. Intelligent and steady implementation of plans for change are required if I am to lose the incoherence of the broken soul and take on the easy obedience and fulfillment of the person who lives ever more fully within the Kingdom of God and the friendship of Jesus.
From The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’s Essential Teachings on Discipleship. Copyright © 2006 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Proactive and Reactive Bible Intake
This article exhorts believers to never coast through life on their current knowledge of Scripture. In fact, we should all practice both proactive and reactive Bible intake. What is this? Read the article from The Disciple-Making Parent…………………………
Conducting Business in a Good Way is a Good Way to Share God’s Love — Dallas Willard
Doing “good” business is a way to share God’s love
The fact that religious leaders often resist the idea that the entire business arena as a place of divine action is testament to the lack of a holistic perspective regarding the type and nature of “good things” (blessings) God is working in and through our lives. In such circumstances local businesspeople may be farther ahead in the ways of the kingdom than those leading a local church. Business is an amazingly effective means of delivering God’s love to the world by loving, serving, and providing for one another. God loves the world (John 3:16), and because he does, he has arranged the enterprise and organization of business as a primary moving force to demonstrate this love throughout human history. Thus, the field of business and its unique knowledge fall perfectly into what can and should be understood as an essential realm of human activity that can and must come under the influence and control of God’s benevolent reign.
From The Divine Conspiracy Continued: Fulfilling God’s Kingdom on Earth. Copyright © 2014 by Dallas Willard amd Gary Black Jr. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Help! I’m Afraid I Made the Wrong Decision
Almost as bad as the stress of making a major decision is the stress after making a major decision! From The Gospel Coalition……………………
Praying the Names of God — Son of God
Biblical scholas Ann Spangler offers another in her series of writings on the Names of God. In this installment, she focuses on the title Son of God………………..
Son of God
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